John 2: Jesus Begins His Work

New Testament: Student Study guide, (2003), 76–77

Jesus was thirty years old when He began His ministry going among the people teaching, blessing, and performing many miracles. In John 2 you will read about Jesus’ first recorded miracle at a wedding in Cana, a town about ten miles north of Nazareth. Jesus then went to Jerusalem to attend the Passover. The cleansing of the temple John wrote about in this chapter is the first time Jesus did this. He cleansed the temple again in the last week before He was crucified (see Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19).

Studying the Scriptures

Water into Wine

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote that the wine spoken of in John 2:1–11 was a drink made from the “‘fruit of the vine’ (Matt. 26:29), a light, sweet wine (normally unfermented); eaten with bread it was one of the staple foods of the day” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:136).